Noted wit Clive Anderson’s obituary – and let the day of its publication be far distant – is unlikely to dwell for long on his legal career. And why should it, when the one-time Cambridge Footlights president can boast of being the very first act on stage when London’s legendary Comedy Store – the cradle of alternative comedy – opened its doors in 1979. The erstwhile barrister showed that he still knows how to wow an audience at last week’s launch party of the rebranded Solicitors Benevolent Association, now SBA The Solicitors Charity, of which he is the new vice-patron. Anderson (pictured) confessed to being ‘as nervous as a Welsh badger with a chest infection’, but mused: ‘What I wouldn’t have given 20 years ago for the undivided attention of a roomful of solicitors.’ Expressing his pleasure at becoming involved with the charity, he admitted some ignorance of its workings, while confessing that he had previously been aware of the Barristers Benevolent Association, which, as he said, ‘distributes literally hundreds of pounds a year’. He quipped: 'I’m all for these things – it’s the 99% of lawyers that get the other 1% a bad name.’